The
Georgia General Assembly was in session every
day this week with Friday being day 34 of the
40-day session. Thursday, the Senate passed
GBA's priority "fees are not interest" bill
sending it back to the House for a final vote.
This past Monday was Crossover Day. That's the
day bills must pass their body of origin in
order to be considered by the other body. The leadership
ensured an orderly pace allowing plenty of time
for debate on sometimes controversial issues.
Several bills GBA has been monitoring saw action
this week, and below
is more information about those.
Also,
qualifying
for the 2014 elections began Monday of this
week.
That's weeks earlier than in the past due to a
federal court's requirement that Georgia's
federal election primaries be moved to May. The
General Assembly voted to move the state
election primaries to coincide with that same
date to save millions of dollars in state and
local election costs.

GBA Priority Bill
Passes Senate

The "Fees are Not Interest" bill, H.B. 824,by Rep. Richard Smith (R-Columbus)
was passed by a
vote of
48-5 by the full Senate this week. Our
thanks to the Senate Rules
Committee chairman, Sen. Jeff Mullis (R-Chickamauga),
for his leadership in scheduling the bill for a
vote. Our thanks also go to Sen. Jesse Stone
(R-Waynesboro) for skillfully handling the
bill on the Senate floor. The bill is
needed to ensure parity between state-chartered
and nationally-chartered banks and has been
carefully drawn to support the Department of
Banking and Finance Declaratory Order issued
last year related to overdraft fees. This bill
confirms and clarifies that those and other
common bank fees should not be considered
interest. The bill was amended in the Senate
Banking and Financial Institutions Committee so
as to not affect any existing litigation on
these fees. Because of that slight change, the
bill must go back to the House to get agreement with the change,
which we expect will be considered soon. Click here to read an
Issue Brief about the bill.

Hearings were held on a number of bills
we're following and some have received floor
action. Be sure and check GBA's
State Issues Page on our
website where you'll see all the bills we're
following.

Tax Executions. H.B. 819 by Rep.
Chuck Martin (R-Alpharetta)
revises the statute related to the
sale of tax executions. GBA
requested language be added to the
bill related to redemptions of liens
that had been sold. The language
changes the application of the 20
percent the redeemer of the lien
pays from being applied to the
amount the lien sold for to the
amount of the tax due. The bill was
passed by the House this week and is
pending in the
Senate Finance Committee.

Foreclosure Study. H.R. 1643
by Rep.
Paulette Braddock (R-Powder
Springs) was introduced this week
and would create the House Committee
on Foreclosure Reform. The committee
would look into the use of the money
the state received in settlements
from large mortgage servicers, the
processes behind the Mortgage
Electronic Registration Systems (MERS),
the validity of mortgages if some of
the paperwork cannot be produced,
dual tracking of modifications and
foreclosures, and protecting
Georgians from fraud and undue
hardships related to foreclosures.
The House Banks and Banking
Committee held a hearing this week
giving Rep. Braddock and others the
opportunity to discuss the
background behind her concerns. GBA
supported testimony from the
Mortgage Bankers Association that
disputed much of the information
provided and helped educate the
committee, giving facts about recent law and
regulatory changes that address the
concerns raised by the resolution.
The committee did not take a vote on
whether to move forward with the
Study Committee, but is still
considering it.

Merchant Acquirer Limited Purpose
Bank.
H.B. 883
by Rep. Brian Strickland
(R-McDonough) corrects a couple of
Code section cross-references
contained in the bill passed during
the 2012 session.
The bill was passed by the House
this week and was reported out of
the Senate Banking and Financial
Institutions Committee.

Check Cashers/Money Transmitters.
H.B. 982by Rep.
Bruce Williamson
(R-Monroe) was introduced at the
request of the Georgia Department of
Banking and Finance to update and
revise the current statutes related
to non-bank check cashers and money
transmitters and to require these
entities to register with the Nationwide Multi-State Licensing
System & Registry.The
bill was passed by the House this
week
and was reported out of the Senate Banking and
Financial Institutions Committee.

Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) Cards - Retail Usage Prohibitions.
H.B. 138 by Rep.
Andrew Welch(R-McDonough) would prohibit the use
of government benefits in certain
retail establishments and for
certain products and services,
including buying gift cards. Part of
the bill requires signage to be
posted on ATMs about the
prohibitions, which can be done on
the machine's screen in lieu of an
attached sign. There is also
specific language in the bill that
would disallow a private right of
action against a federally insured
financial institution presumably for
non-compliance. The bill was passed
by the House this week and is
pending in the
Senate Health and Human Services
Committee.

Downtown Investments. H.B. 128 by Rep.
Allen
Peake (R-Macon) as amended creates
a revolving loan fund administered
by the Georgia Department of
Community Affairs for certain
downtown improvement projects. Funding would
come from general appropriations of
up to $5 million per year for four
years. The bill passed the
House this week and is pending in
the Senate Economic Development
Committee.

Flood Insurance.
S.R. 747
by Sen. William Ligon Jr.
(R-Brunswick) encourages repeal of
the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance
Reform Act of 2012, citing resulting
high increases in premiums,
inaccurate mapping and devalued home
and property values. The resolution
was passed by the Senate this week.
A similar resolution, H.R. 1055by Rep. Alex Atwood (R-Brunswick), passed
the House earlier this session.

Tax
Sales - Redemption Costs to be Paid.
H.B. 69by Rep. Tommy
Benton (R-Jefferson) would add
amounts owed to property owners'
associations to the various costs to
be paid to redeem property from a
tax sale. The bill passed the House
this week and is pending in the
Senate Finance Committee.

Ad valorem Taxation of Property.
H.B. 954
by Rep. Brett Harrell
(R-Snellville) requires a tax
assessor when determining fair
market value of property to consider
decreased value of the property
based on rent limitations and any
other restrictions imposed upon the
property in connection with the
property being eligible for certain
income tax credits or receiving any
other state or federal subsidies
provided with respect to the use of
the property as residential rental
property. The bill passed the House this week and it is pending in the
Senate Finance Committee.

Auctioneers. H.B. 1042 by Rep. Katie
Dempsey (R-Rome) has been added
to our tracking list this week out
of an abundance of caution. The bill
changes the code related to the
individuals and entities who must be
licensed as auctioneers. We
are looking at the bill
and may request amendments if our
members who are selling foreclosed
or repossessed property could be
inadvertently caught by the new
licensing provisions. The bill passed the House
this week and is pending in the
Senate Regulated Industries and
Utilities Committee.

False Liens.H.B. 985by Rep. Tom Kirby
(R-Loganville) expands to all citizens the current
prohibition on filing false liens or
encumbrances against public
employees. The bill was reported out
of Senate Judiciary Non-Civil
Committee this week.

All
committees in the House and Senate work overtime
to perfect legislation referred to their
respective committees. Once the committees
complete their review, the bills are then sent
to the Rules Committee of the respective body.
These are the committees that determine the
flow of legislation onto the floor for debate.
The chairman of the House Rules Committee is
Rep. John Meadows (R-Calhoun). The chairman of
the
Senate Rules Committee is Sen. Jeff
Mullis (R-Chickamauga). They are two of the
hardest working members of the General Assembly
and we thought you'd like to know a
little more about them.

Rep. Meadows was elected to the
House of Representations in the
November 2004 election covering
Gordon and Murray Counties.
Originally from Calhoun, Meadows
went on to attend West Georgia
College. Prior to his election
to the House, he served as the
Mayor of Calhoun for 13 years as
well as a member of the Calhoun
City Council for three years.
Meadows is currently employed as
an Insurance Salesman at
Starr-Matthews Agency, Inc. His
community and civic involvement
includes membership in the
Society of CLU CAFL and the
Northwest Georgia Association of
Health Underwriters. He served
as the President of the Georgia
Municipal Association from
1995-1996 and proudly served in
the United States Marine Corps.
The avid golfer and his wife
Marie are the proud parents of
two children, B.J. and Missy,
and grandfather of twin boys, Will and Patrick, born in May,
2005. A strong desire to be
involved in the future of his
community and a longing to pay
them back for what they have
given him and his family led him
to his most recent role. In
addition to serving as Chairman
of the Rules Committee, he is
also a member of the
Governmental Affairs, Fame, Fish
and Parks, Industry and Labor,
Retirement, and Insurance
Committees.

Sen. Mullis was first
elected to the Georgia State
Senate in 2000 representing
several mountain counties in
northwest Georgia. He was born,
raised and lives in Chickamauga.
He currently is an Economic
Developer in Northwest Georgia.
In addition to the Rules
Committee, he is also a member
of the Banking and Financial
Institutions, Economic
Development and Appropriations
Committees
and chairs the Appropriations
Economic Development
Subcommittee. Sen. Mullis chairs the
Senate Music Committee and The
Halls of Fame Joint Committee.
He is the Chairman Emeritus of
the Sportsman Caucus. Sen. Mullis has been recognized numerous times by Georgia
Trend magazine as one of the
"100 Most Influential People in
Georgia" and by James
Magazine as one of the "Most
Influential Political Leaders in
Georgia." He has also been the
recipient of many awards
recognizing his service in
recent years including the
Governor Zell Miller Public
Policy Leadership Award from the
Georgia Economic Development
Association; GMA "Champion of
Georgia Cities" award; "Legislative Service Award" from
the Association County
Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG);
an award for work on biker
issues given by the American
Bikers Aimed Towards Education
(ABATE); the Brotherton Award
given locally for protecting
heritage; "Legislator of the
Year" award for his dedication
to the Georgia Fire Service; GBI
recognized Sen. Mullis for his
support of the GBI’s DNA
Database; and he has been
recognized by Get Georgia Moving
and the Metro Atlanta Chamber
for his work in the Senate on
transportation issues. He and
his wife Teresa
have three children.

Throughout
the session, GBA will be represented by our
Senior Vice President for Government Relations,
Elizabeth
Chandler,
404.420.2027, and President and CEO, Joe
Brannen,
404.402.2026. Contact either of them with
questions about legislation, information about
how your legislator voted on a particular issue
or to request any other information related to
the Georgia General Assembly.